Guitar steel



Jain. 9, 1940. J. ABBOTT 2,186,399

GUITAR STEEL Filed Feb. 2, ;1939

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ATTORNEYS.

Patented Jan. 9, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2 Claims.

This invention relates to a steel designed primarily for use in playing instruments such as the Hawaiian guitar.

With similar devices heretofore used it has been difficult to reach from one fret to another lower one and to do so it has been necessary to twist the steel in the hand of the performer to bring it to an angle in order to assume the proper position. This has been awkward and tiring.

An object of the present invention is to provide a steel the use of which eliminates the twisting action mentioned so that the instrument can be played more easily, accurately and quickly and at the same time produces less fatigue,

With the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention consists of certain novel details of construction and combinations of parts hereinafter more fully described and pointed out in the claims, it being understood that changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of parts without departing from the spirit of the invention as claimed.

In the accompanying drawing the preferred form of the invention has been shown.

In said drawing Figure 1 is a side elevation of the device.

Figure 2 is a top plan view thereof, a portion of the hand of the user being indicated by broken lines and the movable member being shown by broken lines in shifted position.

Figure 3 is a bottom plan view of the device showing the movable member in shifted position. Figure 4 is a section on line 4-4, Figure 1.

Figure 5 is a side elevation with a portion broken away to show the pivot of the movable member and its wheel, showing a modification.

Referring to the figures by characters of reference I designates the body portion of the steel suitably shaped so that its top edge will provide a rest 2 for the first or index finger of the performer. The front end is straddled by a loop 3 constituting a ring into which the finger is adapted to be inserted. The bottom of the body or main member of the steel is cut away longitudinally from the front end to an intermediate point where it is formed with an oblique transverse shoulder 4. In the recess 5 formed by cut ting away the body portion there is located a movable member 6 in the form of a strip having a beveled end 1 adapted normally to bear against the shoulder 4, this member 6 being preferably of the same thickness as the member I and having its bottom flush with the rear portion of the member I.

A transverse slot 8 is provided in the member I above recess 5 and extending across the central portion of this slot is a pivot pin 9 the lower 5 end of which is securely fastened within the member 6 while the upper end thereof can be formed. with a head l0 seated in a recess ll so as to hold the parts assembled. This pin rotates with member 6 and has an angular portion l2 within the slot on which is secured a wheel or disk l3 opposed portions of which extend outwardly from the slot. This wheel is located where it can be grasped between the thumb and second finger of the hand of the user, as indicated by broken lines in Figure 3. Thus it will be seen that when it is desired to slant the steel, as frequently required when performing on the particular instrument mentioned, it is not necessary to twist the same as heretofore. 20 All that is required is to rotate the wheel between the thumb and second finger a suificient distance to cause the member 6 to swing at a desired angle relative to the member I. The position of this member 6 when shifted has been 25 indicated in Figure 3 and by broken lines in Figure 2.

In Figure 5 there has been shown a slightly modified construction wherein, instead of mounting the wheel M on the angular portion of pin 30 i5, it can be located in a transverse recess l6 formed in member I! and opening downwardly into the bottom recess l8. Thus wheel M can be connected to member l9 by a pin 20 and rotation of the wheel l4 and member l9 together is thusinsured.

What is claimed is:

1. A device of the class described including a main member to be grasped by the hand of the user, said member having a recess in the bottom thereof, a movable member normally seated in the recess, a pivot pin connecting the movable and main members, and a wheel mounted on the pivot pin and projecting from the main member, said wheel being operatively connected to the movable member.

2. A device of the class described including a main member to be grasped by the hand of the user, said member having a recess in the bottom thereof, a movable member normally seated in 5 the recess, a pivot pin connecting the movable and main members, and a wheel mounted on the pivot pin and projecting from the main member, said pin constituting a driving connection between the wheel and the movable member.

JOHN M. ABBOTT. 

